June 28, 2008, by Bob

We're on our way! We left Midway yesterday about 30 minutes before sundown. We were not allowed in the channel after sundown
because we're liable to run over birds, seals, turtle, reefs, and the like. We motored out, caught a little wind, and headed
northwest. As the only one of us with a modicum of common sense, Cathy took a plane out of Midway last night. That leaves Melinda,
Josh, Mike, and me on the boat.

I have uploaded a bunch of photos to the site http://xpda.com/nwhi

I have not had time to put many captions on them, but I will probably refer to some before long with long-winded explanations.

We passed by Kure Atoll in the night, the northernmost coral reef in the world. It is right around the Darwin point, which is where
the reef grows at about the same rate as the island sinks.

The Emperor seamount chain is a long chain of underwater mountains that extends from Hawaii almost up to the Aleutians. Some of the
seamounts are named after Japanese emperors.

We are now headed for an unnamed (as far as we know) seamount, about 300 miles northwest of Midway. This seamount doesn't even
appear on some of our charts, so it might be a figment of somebody's imagination in 1947 when it was reported. It's supposed to come
up to a depth of 60 feet, surrounded by water three miles deep. We plan to dive there if we find it, if the weather's good, and if
the current is not too strong.

At Midway we got to do laundry, access the internet, get a little fuel, get fresh bread, vegetables, etc., and most importantly,
restock my Diet Coke supply. We also did some diving, biking, picture taking, and general frolicking. Everybody at Midway was really
nice and really helpful. There are about 60 people who live there doing things like running and maintaining the airport, managing
the wildlife, maintaining the town, and managing each other.

Midway airport is used as an alternate runway for flights across the North Pacific. That way if a 777 loses one of its two engines
on the way to Japan, it can land on dry ground. So the airport is maintained to standards so that large airliners can takeoff and
land there, even though not many do.

Melinda just broke out the piano. She's playing some Beethoven. Josh got the bread maker working, thanks to a spare part from Dave.
We are finally fishing, but have caught nothing today. Mike can't find his scuba mask. If you see it, please bring it by the Minnow
tomorrow night at 31°05'N 177°46'E.